A recent post that I wrote and titled ‘My silent thought’ was indeed a moving one for many and it got some great feedback. Nevertheless, one of the thoughts in the feedback gotten has inspired this post. My silent thought was mainly about how we can think about other people and make an impact in their lives while we are still here. It encourages us to think about who would have felt out impact here on earth by the time we are done.
Following that thought, someone felt that this is not something that should be done just because we intend to please other people and displease ourselves. I definitely thought about this when I was writing that post but I did not want to divide the message myself. I wanted to hit on one point which I did and it was that we must think about making impact in the lives of other people.
Now some people think about the impact as something they must do, record and show to several other people in order to boost their reputation. That’s not what I am talking about. In the corporate world this is called Corporate Social Responsibility. So many companies feel compelled to do something for the community they are in and the people that are there. When you see the way they go about it, you can tell that the real thing is often not about the people but about the fact that they need to brag that they did something. They need to have their brands impressed in the minds of the people so it’s just another branding or publicity stunt for them. That’s why I call it charity for the camera. It’s a publicity strategy or a Public Relations tool. That’s why you see that most Public Relations departments today are like a full press unit equipped with all the necessary cameras and gadgets for media and online publicity of every little good that they do.
I am not talking about doing charity for the camera here. I am asking us to make real or genuine impact in the lives of other people. What I am saying is that our lives must be lived in such a way that we are constantly thinking about how to make life better for other people. This should be done when you are seen or not. In fact, it makes a lot more sense when you are not seen. It should be the people who have felt the impact that should be talking about the impact and not you trying to show it to everyone that you have done something.
If you are serious about genuine impact, you will not even have the time or be able to put on record every good thing you have done. While I understand that sometimes you need to record some things, especially where the impact has just effort or where you are accountable to others, we must never make the publicity the focus. When you check what some people spend on publicizing the good they seem to have done, the cost of the publicity it more than the good they are advertising. Now that’s what I call charity for the camera.
Leave all of those stunts of charity for the camera and live a life that daily impacts people. It is not something that you even have to do with a lot of money. Some others are quick to think that money is the only thing you can use to impact the lives of other people. I know a lot of people who keep talking about my father and the impact he made in their lives. I also know that he did not give a lot of this people money to start anything but they will never forget his impact. Some of the people that my father impacted are today home owners. A few of them that I still relate with keep telling me that people like us will probably still be suffering as tenants if not for the insight of your father.
There are times you can speak words that will turn around the lives of the people around you. While that is true, I would really like that we go beyond just speaking. Have a tangible and lasting impact in the lives of other people. Help them make something happen! They want to go to school, help in your own way. They want to start a business? Help in your own way. They need to pursue a career? Give them a push. Do this for one person and while that persons is still trying to figure out what you have done and full of appreciation, move on to the next person.
If there’s anything I really like about Jesus, it is the fact that the Bible says God anointed him and he went about doing good. That’s what I like to do … to go about doing good! I want to help and make sure others around birth their dreams and fulfil their purpose in life.
Our deeds that have transformed other people’s lives will be easily remembered, not our words.
Fola Daniel Adelesi
President/CEO,
Edible Pen.
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Fola Daniel Adelesi

Fola Daniel Adelesi is a professional public speaker who also trains other speakers. He's a highly engaging training facilitator and he holds his large audience spell bound when speaking at gatherings. Apart from his several platforms which include banks, insurance companies and religious organizations where he facilitates trainings, he has been a part of some national television shows and he spoke so intelligently.
He's an author, business consultant and highly skilled master of ceremony with excellent poise and diction. He was on the Debaters TV reality show season 1, he presented 'You Can' on Radio Continental in 2011 and he did motivational segments on Galaxy TV from Dec 2008 to August 2009. Fola Daniel has authored at least 5 books including ‘Writing Business Proposals,’ ‘The Mentoring father’ and ‘Get up and hit that goal.’ He talked about Social Media on Info.com - An ICT Show on Lagos Television from August 2015 to late 2016. He’s a regular guest on some national tv platforms (including Channels TV and Television Continental) and a delight to their audience.
He trained as a communications professional, works as a business consultant and was also trained at Lagos Business School in collaboration with Google as a Digital Business Manager. He is the President and CEO of the Edible Pen Group.

2 Comments

Reblogged this on alauraborialis and commented:
Create a genuine impact and immerse yourself in a community first and positive media attention is a side effect. This post shows where the Corporate Social Responsibility model can go wrong, and how to do it right.

Starting and promoting a blog

Fola Daniel Speaks on Excuses in this video from 2009

Writing Business Proposal

You can get books from @foladaniel on www.amazon.com/author/foladaniel or https://okadabooks.com/user/EdiblePen

deeper than depths

You can get books from @foladaniel on www.amazon.com/author/foladaniel or https://okadabooks.com/user/EdiblePenYou can get books from @foladaniel on www.amazon.com/author/foladaniel or https://okadabooks.com/user/EdiblePen